


you make me melt like ice cream.

by vicbartons



Series: we were just kids when we fell in love [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 08:31:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15553731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vicbartons/pseuds/vicbartons
Summary: Who hadn't drunkenly kissed their best mate during a house party before? It happened. Out under the stars. Robert´s light blond hair lit up by nothing but the street light right behind him, making it look like the giant git had ended up with a halo by some cosmic mistake. Eyes bright and glistening. Cheeks red. It happened. Whatever. No reason to make a fuss of it.





	you make me melt like ice cream.

**Author's Note:**

> title from "ice cream" by derrival

 

Aaron had decided that he hated a heatwave.

Don´t get him wrong, sun and ice cream and temperatures above a nice 25 sounded like fun when it was mid February and you were shivering huddled under a blanket in the yorkshire cold, raindrops hammering against the windows creating the monotone soundtrack to your oh-so-exciting life. Only once the novelty and excitement of being able to leave the house wearing only one layer of clothing and dozing in the sun til late in the evening had worn off and you were suddenly left with nothing but a pile of dirty shirts on the floor of your bedroom that even an inappropriate amount of Axe couldn't save, the heat turned into a nuisance.

A sticky, sweaty, stinking, headache-inducing nuisance.

And that was putting it nicely.

So that's why he was feeling like shit, sitting at the sidelines with his feet dangling off the boat bridge, bare toes flicking water back and forth as they went, while all his mates were making a fuss a few yards away from him, getting drunk on cheap Tesco whiskey and enjoying a game of volleyball.

That was all that was bothering him.

The way the humid heat had soaked his long-sleeved black shirt, fabric sticking to every inch of his body. The way the wooden planks underneath him just wouldn't cool down, apparently having conspired to burn off his arse altogether. The fact that he was enduring all of this garbage running on four nights of barely any sleep after the fan in his room he´d had to beg Paddy for had died on him.

That was the problem.

Just that.

Not the gorgeous White girl that had been hanging off of Robert all afternoon.

No.

Definitely not her.

Aaron closed his eyes and leaned back on his arms and faced the sun. He might as well make the most of it while it was here. Soon, there were red and yellow flickers dancing behind his eyelids, distracting him from the noise that was coming from the lakefront. Adam´s loud cackling and the Top 100 radio station that was blaring over a bluetooth speaker suddenly only a low rumble in the distance. But that only lasted for so long before he felt a shadow fall over him. A long, lean figure blocking him from the sunlight.

Aaron didn't have to open his eyes to know whose footsteps had approached him, bare feet pitter-pattering against the hot, wooden planks - accompanied by a steady flow of muttered expletives from their owner´s mouth - before they had come to a halt right beside him.

He'd have known them anywhere.

“I don't want to talk, Robert.”

“The last thing I want to do right now is talk to you,” Aaron muttered through his teeth with a sigh, his eyes still closed in a desperate attempt to stay in this moment of peace and quiet he´d managed to carve out for himself amidst all the buzzing from his friends just a little longer.

Only Robert wasn´t one for doing as he was told.

“Well, tough,” he huffed with a laugh and let himself slump down onto the planks right next to Aaron. “Guess we´re just going to sit here in silence then ´til you tell me what's up.”

Aaron looked over at him and watched his slim fingers make quick work of the label on the bottle of beer he was holding, nails digging under the edges, in lieu of having to meet Robert´s eyes.

“I´d appreciate it if you´d hurry up though.” He took a quick sip from his bottle and Aaron let his eyes follow it, watched Robert pull a face before he put the bottle back down between his knees, “cause my beer´s going warm.”

“Fuck off.” Aaron couldn't fight the smile that formed on his face as his elbow found its way between Robert´s ribs in a quick jab.  

“Lovely,” Robert grinned with a glint in his eyes and rubbed his side with his hand in mock pain before he shoved at Aaron's shoulder with his own and handed him the second bottle he'd brought over with him. As Aaron reached for it, their fingers touched for a second, but Aaron just held Robert´s gaze. Saw how the smile faded from his eyes and was replaced by something more somber. “You know you can tell me anything, right? Anything at all,” Robert whispered like it was a secret only for Aaron to hear and let his thumb run over the younger boy´s.

Aaron pulled away with a low hiss and looked back out at the lake.

“Isn't there some blonde bimbo over there desperately waiting to be entertained by you or something?” Aaron raised his arm and tilted the bottle of lager towards the lakeside where Rebecca and Vic where giggling together under a tree, giving the two of them suspecting looks. ”Bet she would love for you to teach her some volleyball.” Aaron took a big gulp from his bottle and let his eyes wander over the still water in front of him again before he continued, ”or maybe some french.” He spit the last words, all of them tasting like bile on his tongue, but there was a tinge of sadness to his voice that he hoped to god Robert wouldn't pick up on.

“What now?”

Robert sounded genuinely confused, but Aaron wasn't having it.

“No need to pretend,” he grumbled. “She was all over you a minute ago.” 

“Bex?”

“Already on a nickname basis, huh?” Aaron peered over at him, an eyebrow raised in a challenge. Like he was daring Robert to call him a liar, to tell him he was imagining things. But also hoping for it. Maybe.

Robert didn´t take the bait though.

“Aaron.”

Aaron hated it when Robert put on that soft voice, because it made him feel like he meant more than he should. He hated it even more when it came mixed with a warm, steady hand wrapped around his shoulder in comfort and those stupidly wide eyes staring right at him. The ones that reminded him of easier days years ago, back when the worst thing they'd fight about was Aaron dog-earing yet another one of Robert´s overpriced comic books.

“Don´t ´Aaron´ me right now, Robert,” he muttered under his breath, skidding slightly to the side on the rough wooden planks of the boat bridge. Aaron could feel a few sharp splinters digging their way into his thigh as he went, but it didn't even matter. Not if he could just put some distance between the two of them.

It's not like Aaron didn't know that this wasn't fair. He was the one who´d called them off after all. Whatever the hell they had even been. If they had been anything at all to be frank. Anything more than best friends that was. Seriously though, who hadn't drunkenly kissed their best mate during a house party before? It happened. Out under the stars. Robert´s light blond hair lit up by nothing but the street light right behind him, making it look like the giant git had ended up with a halo by some cosmic mistake. Eyes bright and glistening. Cheeks red. Aaron´s heart skipping a beat like it never had before. It happened. Whatever. It's not like he had that many options out here in the middle of nowhere to begin with when it came to blokes he could make out with. No reason to make a fuss of it.

Least of all with Robert leaving for university in less than a month, right?

Because that would be like knowingly pressing the self-destruct button on both of them and their friendship. Setting yourself up for inevitable heartbreak. And for what, really? They were AaronandRobert after all. Hotten Academy´s king of tragically failed relationships, if Jackson had been anything to go by, and Robert Sugden of all people, philanderer in chief. Doomed from the start, even if it weren't for the fact that one of them was about to finally leave Emmerdale and all the small dreams and small minds that came with it for Birmingham and then the world, if Robert´s ego had any say in the matter. All while Aaron would be left behind. Another year of school and then a job in his uncle's garage all he had to look forward to. Maybe a small share of the business one day, if he managed to keep his head down and his eyes closed where Cain´s not-so-legal side jobs were concerned.

Not exactly a match made in heaven.

“That,” Robert pulled him from his thoughts with a strong pull on his elbow, making him face him. “That is nothing”

“Like us then?”

Robert flinched and let his head fall to his chest like Aaron had punched him straight in the gut, almost curled in on himself before he spoke up again.

“I never said that,” now it was Robert´s turn at being unable to face his best friend, eyes locked on his bare feet in the water instead. He just shook his head lightly, sadness dripping from his slumped shoulders. “You did though,” his voice was low and quiet.

They just sat in silence for a while, before Robert seemed to pull himself together, shoulders straight again and faux confidence back in place.

“It's nothing like that anyway,” he brushed off Aaron´s earlier accusation. And really, it's not like Aaron had any right, was it? He had no claim to Robert. Not in that way. And who was he to fault him for doing exactly what he should be doing with a face like his at 19, summer in full swing, charme oozing from every pore and nothing but excitement and opportunity ahead of him: Going out, having fun and snogging as many girls and blokes as his heart desired before fall would come around and drag him into a life full of adult responsibilities and uncertainty.

Only the thought of it alone was enough to turn Aaron´s stomach.

“You want it to be?” he asked and lifted his head. Bright green eyes meeting  blue ones while his teeth dragged over his bottom lip, dreading Robert´s answer.

“You know what I want.”

And that wasn´t Rebecca at all.

Aaron liked to think that it were the piss warm beer and the heat that were getting to his head and loosening his tongue in this ridiculous way and not the crinkles around Robert´s bright eyes as he blinked against the sun and gave Aaron a sad smile that made his insides feel a whole nother kind of warmth. One even 34 degrees and the sun beating down on him couldn't compare to.

“What if I´d changed my mind?” Aaron said, hope and possibility hanging of off every syllable.

“You what?” Robert´s face fell in disbelief as he shifted in his place until his whole body was facing Aaron, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

“You know, ´bout the whole,” his index finger flicked back and forth between the two of them.  “What if I´d changed my mind?”

“Well, have you?” Robert couldn´t hide his pleading tone.

“Maybe.” Aaron shrugged.

He could practically see the cogs turning in Robert´s head, mouth slowly closing before he spoke up again.

“Well, if you had, “ Robert stumbled, lost for words in a way Aaron had not seen before, “ then maybe, well possibly,” he let his fingers run through his blond mob of hair, freed his fringe from his forehead that heat and sweat had made it stick against, “then I guess we'd try to figure out a way to make this work. Give it a proper chance, right?” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but he still didn't seem convinced that he wasn't simply dreaming, which Aaron took as a good sign under the circumstances. “If you'd want that, I mean,” he amended and made it sounds like a question.

Aaron only nodded. First slowly then picking up in pace, like his mind was trying to catch up with this new reality he had suddenly found himself in.

“Right,” he conceded a bit dumbfounded as he let his fingers run along his shorts, nails pulling at the seams.

Robert reached over, his hand tentatively covering Aaron´s.

“Right,” Aaron muttered again. He turned his hand over and let his fingers intertwine with Robert´s. One by one, slowly slotting into place like that was were they´d always been meant to end up.

He leaned into Robert´s side and let his boyfriend steady him. (Was that what Robert was now? His boyfriend?). He peered up at him through his lashes, catching sight of the bright smile that seemed to be permanently stuck on the older boy´s face now.

“I think I´d like that,” Aaron hummed into the crook of Robert´s neck, placing a kiss there.

“Me too.”

The palm of Robert´s hand was sweaty.

Aaron squeezed it a little harder.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr [@vicbartons](http://www.vicbartons.tumblr.com)


End file.
